Summoned to War
by Generatedname
Summary: On an Earth ravaged by alien invasion, Trainee Saito Hiraga of the Magika Corps summons a familiar to accompany him on the battlefield against the alien threat. Of course, he did not expect a young pink-haired girl with a penchant for explosions to answer the call. A twist on the 'Reversed Summons' type of story. T for blood and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**To all my readers, this is one of two stories being released by me in the near future, the other being the winner of the poll, which will be taken down soon. In addition, an update to 'Secrets of the Void' is in the works, and should be released shortly. This particular story came from a combination of me watching Familiar of Zero, another successful playthrough of XCom classic, and a few reads of Warhammer 40k fanfics, plus a (hopefully) hefty dose of originality and world building. Having read so many 'Alternate Familiar' fics in this category, I've decided to put a spin on the popular genre and write my own story in the Familiar of Zero category. Now, without further ado, on to the story.**

**Chapter 1- Heeding the Call**

Saito Hiraga stood in line inside the large metal room, patiently awaiting his turn at the familiar summoning ritual. He watched as, one by one, the students in front of him walked up to the summoning pentacles, briskly said an incantation, and bound their familiars. The process was brief, efficient, and without ceremony. After all, the celebration could be saved until after the ritual was completed.

_"To my familiar spirit, lurking somewhere within the realms of the Aether! Your master bids you to appear before him and defer to his will! Heed my call, oh powerful and cunning spirit! Appear before me!"_

Saito watched as Alexander Haliburton chanted the incantation, the giant, sky blue form of a Wyvern appearing before him. Placing his hand on the spirit's snout, Alexander bound the newly materialized creature, an intricate series of runes forming all over the massive winged form of the Wyvern. Then, the tall, black haired boy simply stood aside, his familiar following his example, as the next student stepped up.

"Huh. Alex is definitely going on to the 512th." The boy in front of Saito muttered, a combination of jealousy and awe in his voice. After all, the 512th airborne mage division used Wyverns exclusively, the creatures being capable of supersonic flight, fast enough to overtake the alien fighter craft that prowled the skies of Earth, the wyvern's air combat capability being superior to even the most powerful non-magical fighter craft, and capable of rivaling the more powerful magically enhanced aircraft produced in the rune-factories dotting the surface of the planet.

The line slowly crept forward as familiar after familiar was summoned, the magical energy spikes generated by the summonings being barely masked by the nullification devices lining the walls of the room. Should even one of the devices fail, however, the magical energy spikes would be detected by the alien fleets, and the academy would once again become a battleground.

Finally, nearly half an hour later, Saito reached the front of the line, him being the last of the students in his line. Standing before the pentacle etched into the steel floor, the Japanese Magika Corps trainee began to speak.

_"I summon thee, familiar spirit, for the call to arms exempts no-one! I command thee, appear before me, oh most powerful and cunning spirit, so that you may join your brethren in the ongoing war!"_

The pentacle began to glow.

* * *

><p>Louise Francois le Blanc de la Valliere watched as the other students of the Tristain Academy of Magic summoned their familiar spirits, loyal companions that would accompany them throughout the rest of their lives. She watched as Tabitha summoned a sky blue dragon, and Kirche, of all people, summoned a salamander, the red haired harlot even now glancing smugly at her, every bit of her Germanian nemesis goading her to make true on her promise to surpass her.<p>

"Now then. Has everyone summoned their familiar?" Professor Jean Colbert asked.

"The Zero hasn't!" Kirche said. Immediately everyone in the courtyard focused their attention on her. Some began taunting her, saying that she couldn't complete the ritual, saying that all that would happen was another explosion. Louise ignored them, instead stepping towards the summoning circle.

_"I beg of you... My servant who lives somewhere in this universe! Oh sacred, beautiful, and strong familiar spirit! I beg from my heart, answer to my guidance!" _She chanted.

Nothing happened.

* * *

><p>Unbeknownst to Louise, and only somewhat known to Saito, a pair of search tracers made their way through the universe, searching for a familiar suitable for their masters. In a one in a trillion event, the two tracers collided, both deeming the other's master suitable for summoning. The two tracers vied for dominance, before the stronger one won.<p>

* * *

><p>The jeers of her classmates rang in her ears as nothing appeared in front of her.<p>

"Looks like she truly is a Zero! Everyone here has a familiar except for Louise the Zero! Zero magic, Zero breasts, Zero familiars!"

Tears began to form in her eyes as the taunting gibes from her classmates continued to resound throughout the courtyard. Then, she felt a slight tug in her mind. The tug intensified, causing her to walk slowly to the center of her summoning circle, the cries and jeers of her classmates continuing to sound.

Then, all of a sudden, there was a flash of light, temporarily blinding everyone in the courtyard. When the students regained their sight, Louise the Zero was gone.

* * *

><p>The pentacle continued to glow faintly for several seconds, before suddenly erupting in light. Several alarms began to faintly chime as some of the nullification devices exploded in brilliant showers of sparks, their backups taking damage and being rendered inoperable. When the light subsided, Saito saw a small, pink haired girl who couldn't be more than twelve or thirteen years old, lying on her back in the pentacle, clad in some form of white uniform and a black cloak.<p>

"A human familiar? Most unusual. Trainee Hiraga, please switch to binding three, designed specifically for humans." The instructor intoned. Just then, the familiar groaned, her eyes slowly blinking open. She said something in a language that Saito's cybernetic implants registered as the archaic French language. Effortlessly switching to the old dialect, Saito spoke.

"Can you understand me?" He asked.

"Wh- Where am I?" The girl groaned as she attempted to sit up.

"Magika Corps training facility. Please remain calm as I bind you, familiar." Saito spoke, before switching to Standard and asking the instructor. "Binding three, was it"

"Yes. Please continue with the ritual." The instructor replied.

"Binding three? Isn't that the one sealed with a kiss?" One of the students asked.

"Shut it, Ahmad. At least this isn't my first kiss, unlike you!" Saito replied, causing a few of the students to laugh. He turned to his summoned familiar, whose eyes were beginning to widen in shock.

"_By the magic contained within me, I affirm the bond between Master and Familiar, the bond between you and me._" Saito then leaned in and kissed the shell-shocked girl on her lips, keeping the kiss chaste.

With a soft, white glow, runes began to form, running up and down the girl's arm, while a small line of runes appeared on Saito's own hand, the bond between the two being sealed with magic.

"What have you done to me?" The girl asked, shock and fear clear in her voice.

"You have been summoned as a familiar spirit, and I have bound you. These runes affirm th-" Saito never finished the sentence, as loud klaxons began to blare throughout the academy.

"All military personnel are required to report to battle stations. Repeat, all military personnel are required to report to battle stations. Hostile forces have been detected moving towards the academy's position, ETA 30 minutes. All trainees are required to join the battle. There is no room for cowardice in the Magica Corps. All members who attempt to avoid combat shall be faced with expulsion." The announcement was heard in every student's ears, the implants carrying the message.

"Come with me. Now!" Saito ordered the newly bound familiar.

"No! I don't even know who you are, much less what you'll do to-"

"Follow me, now! That's an order! As of this moment, consider yourself a member of the Magika Corps and my subordinate. You are to come with me to the armory, and participate in the defense of this academy. Now!" Saito cut her off, not even noticing how she was now speaking Standard.

"But-"

"No buts, that's an order! Move it pinky!" Saito shouted, before taking off and sprinting towards the armory. He heard the girl following him, panting for breath. He passed several barricades formed from flipped up floor tiles, automatic defense turrets sprouting from the ceiling, and even a few particle beam cannons being manhandled into position. Finally, he arrived at the armory. Quickly stripping down to a black, skintight neuro-interface suit, he placed his uniform down on a waiting receptacle, before standing in the armor application station. Seconds later, robotic arms finished encasing him in a steel grey suit of armor, its inside covered in tiny runic script. Grabbing the dispensed helmet, Saito completed the armor set, the AI inside running diagnostics.

"Mag-shields operational."

"Focus channels operational."

"Dynamic vision module operational."

"NCB seals operational."

"Runic augmentation arrays operational."

"Squadsight module operational."

"Aim-assist module operational."

"Camouflage systems operational."

"Reactor operational and stable."

"Neuro-interface systems operational."

"Self-destruct system operational."

"All systems operational."

The diagnostic concluded, and Saito stepped out of the armoring station and gestured to his familiar.

"Pinky, take off all loose clothing and get in." He ordered.

"What? How dare you order me to-"

"Now! Do it if you want to live!"

His tone hard and booking no dissent, the girl did as he asked, Saito turning away to preserve her modesty. Several seconds later, the newly armored familiar stepped out of the device, now clad in a full set of Magika Corps Mk. 12 combat armor, her entire body hidden away underneath the steel-grey shell.

"Good. Now, can you use magic?" Saito said, grabbing a focus carbine from the wall, the weapon quickly attuning itself to his magical signature.

"Yes, but-"

"Good. Take this." Saito said, tossing her a heavy focus rifle, the girl gasping at its weight. "You know how to use a focus rifle, right?" He asked.

"No." His familiar replied. Saito sighed.

"Pull down the trigger, then cast a spell through it. Easy, right?" He said, before turning around and heading to the door, joining the orderly throng of trainees and soldiers sprinting towards their battle stations, his familiar following close behind, the suit's augmentation arrays keeping her from tiring.

Navigating the maze of corridors, hallways, and subterranean passageways, Saito came to his battle station, a barricade at one end of a hallway, the other half ending in a door to access lift Delta, the lift being one of four passageways to the surface, and thus would be right in the crosshairs of the alien attack. His familiar caught up, collapsing behind the barricade, drawing a few odd looks from the crew of the focus beam cannon that was being set up.

"Can someone please explain to me what is going on here?" She shouted, drawing more attention.

"If we survive this, I will explain. Until then, just do as I say, OK?" Saito asked. The familiar fell silent.

"Alert. Enemy ETA 5 minutes. All military personnel, man your battle stations at once." The voice rang through the helmet comms of all soldiers in the base.

Several more figures ran up to the barricade, some wearing the simple suits of armor that denoted Magika corps trainees, while others either wore the BDUs of non-magical soldiers or the more distinctive, runic array coated armor of the Magika corps. Every weapon in the room was fixed on the door at the far end of the hallway, ready to open fire at a moment's notice.

A faint rumbling was heard as the air defense cannons fired, aiming at the alien craft that were likely circling down to land. Further rumbles indicated the alien weapons firing back, the occasional tremor indicating either an AA cannon exploding or an alien craft crashing into the ground. The rumbling slowly petered out as the inadequate AA defenses were slowly eliminated, one by one.

"Alert! Enemy forces have made landfall. Alien troops entering access lifts Gamma and Delta. Automated defenses activating."

The whirr of particle beam cannons faintly sounded through the thick steel blast door, quickly being interspersed by the stuttering whine of alien weaponry, the sound of exploding auto-turrets soon joining the mix of noise, which slowly grew louder as the lift descended. Saito's grip on his weapon tightened. Soon, the noise of fighting went silent, before the chime indicating the lift reaching its destination sounded.

Slowly, the blast doors at the end of the hallway began to glow red, the aliens attempting to break through the door. The sound of the focus beam cannon being readied reached Saito's ears, the gunners swapping out the runic array and loading in an energy crystal. Seconds later, the whine of magic circuits charging up sounded through the hallway, the various magic circuits all over the cannon's barrel glowing a bright blue-white for a few short moments, before a bright white beam shot out, slamming into the blast door, which was now orange with heat. The beam punched through the door with ease, charring any hostiles in its path, reducing them to piles of ash. With a loud war cry, the aliens inside who were unhurt charged, carrying their various war gear. Without a moment's hesitation, Saito opened fire, his first shot transmuting an enemy alien's shield into a block of C4, the lingering energy of the spell detonating the material. One of the trainees next to him released a powerful air needle, the weapon punching clean through an alien's head, the clone soldier being trampled over by the troops behind it, its death not slowing the alien assault in the slightest.

Giant, hulking alien brutes made up the first line of the alien attack, standing nearly twice as tall as the average human and carrying heavy black shields and wielding long clubs that crackled with green energy, simply absorbing the incoming fire, ignoring their injuries until they finally succumbed to the wounds they accumulated. Behind them, a pair of mechanical automatons rushed forward, bright green beams firing from the cannon arrays on their backs, their six legs making them look like hellish mechanical insects in the dim light of the hallway. Behind them marched a host of cloned soldiers of all shapes and sizes, each one horrifically unique, a mutant with a singular purpose. As the last of the alien forces were making their way out of the lift, the elevator began to rise again, crushing several hostiles who weren't fast enough to make it out.

The focus cannon's runic array was swapped out as a new energy crystal was loaded in. Then, the cannon began to fire, this time unleashing a barrage of reddish-black energy bolts, each one hitting its target in a powerful explosion.

Saito fired another barrage, this time causing the steel under his targets' feet to suddenly erupt upward, steel blades hobbling and impaling his enemies. Saito's elemental affinity was earth, so he specialized in manipulation of earth and matter. Said manipulation suddenly warped one of the metal automatons, forcefully swiveling its cannon to face the mutants behind it. However, the metal it was made of was magic resistant, and he lost control seconds later. Taking cover as a pair of energy bolts flew towards him, one being blocked by his personal shield generator and the other impacting the steel barricade, causing it to briefly glow bright red before the runic arrays in the steel repaired the damage. Saito glanced towards the side, seeing his familiar hunkering down behind the barricade.

"You said you know magic right? Open fire!" He screamed over the sound of weapons discharging.

"But-"

"Do it!"

The girl stood up, barely peeking out of cover as she took aim.

"Fireball!" The girl suddenly shouted, pressing the trigger. Then, a massive explosion shook the hallway. When the smoke cleared, the majority of the alien force had been reduced to a multicolored smear all over the walls, with weapon fire quickly finishing the remaining aliens. Looking to his side, he saw his familiar holding the weapon, the device extended and venting excess magic energy.

"Nice work, but you overloaded the magic circuits. It's gonna be some time before you can fire again." Saito said, peeking over the barricade while the faint but constant beeping coming from his familiar's weapon reinforcing his point.

"Alert, Class 4 Titan and support forces entering Delta lift." The helmet comm blared, and Saito cursed.

The gun crew swapped runic arrays, readying a heavy beam, aiming at the blown up elevator doors.

Soon, the spacious elevator arrived, and the titan charged. Moving with a speed that belied its massive bulk, the two legged mecha stampeded towards the defensive line, blazing away with its heavy rotary plasma cannons all the while, leaving its support troops behind. The initial fusilade of plasma was aimed at the cannon, which fired back, its beam splashing over the powerful energy shield protecting the mech from harm. The mech's return fire, meanwhile, washed over a protective barrier erected by one of the Magika corps troops defending the barrier. After two seconds of continuous fire, the mech stopped shooting, its arms moving behind it, reconfiguring themselves. Seconds later, a stubby barreled cannon emerged over the mech's torso, already glowing with green light. The bright green beam fired from said cannon quickly overwhelmed any shield the Magika Corps could throw up, the mages screaming before their shield generators were overloaded and they were vaporized. The focus cannon fired back, but once again its beam splashed uselessly over the mech's shield.

"Familiar, has your weapon finished venting yet?" Saito asked, pouring fire over his section of the barricade, a shaft of steel puncturing several advancing alien support troops.

"Yes!" The familiar shouted.

"Then fire at the goddamn titan!" Saito screamed as the mech began to charge up a second shot, its cannon starting to crackle with green lightning.

The familiar took aim and fired, the blast being felt from behind the barricade.

"It's shields are down! Fire!" The cannon crew shouted, and a blue-white beam poured out of the weapon, piercing clean through the titan, the mech collapsing in the middle of the hallway. The support troops were easy pickings, being quickly mown down by the human survivors. As Saito looked around, he saw that only the cannon crew and some surviving trainees remained.

"This is Corporal Nishida requesting reinforcements at the Delta block entrance! We have taken heavy losses, and we'll need more men if we're gonna withstand a third wave!" One of the gunnery crewmen shouted.

"Attention all forces defending Delta block. All forces attacking Delta block have been repelled. You are to take part in a counterattack to take the grounded enemy transports before they can teleport in additional soldiers. All soldiers defending Delta block are to report to the access lift for a counteroffensive." The voice in the helmet comm said.

"Come on familiar! Get to the lift!" Saito shouted, standing up. Then, something caught his eye. One of the dead Magika corps trainees, his armor melted in half and the body underneath reduced to ashes, carried a heavy anti armor focus caster. Running over, Saito picked the weapon up before running to his familiar, who was moving to the elevator.

"Take this. It should be able to take more magic before needing to vent." He said, handing the weapon to her, taking her heavy focus rifle for himself.

The surviving trainees and gunnery crew followed, the trainees carrying a variety of focus weapons while the gunnery crew carried particle carbines, being non magical. They were soon joined by a platoon of non-magical guards, complete with a squad of combat hardsuits, along with a squad of Magika Corps mages, as well as a smattering of trainees. A large amount of familiars clad in battle gear completed the mix. Then, the giant elevator began to rise.

"Alert. Friendly forces are inbound, ETA 10 minutes." The helmet comm spoke, before falling silent.

"Stay close to me Familiar." Saito said. "You're job is to use that explosion spell on enemy fighters going in for strafing runs. Got it?"

The familiar didn't respond. Saito linked his squadsight system with her own, seeing her face in the corner of his own helmet interface. The girl had her eyes squeezed shut and was faintly muttering something under her breath, too soft for her helmet's speakers to catch.

"I'mdreamingi'mdreamingi'mdreamingi'mdreamingi'mdreaming..." Saito listened in, hearing her mutter the same phrase over and over again, as if trying to convince herself of the fact.

"Familiar, snap out of it! Do you want to get shot? You can have your breakdown after the battle's over!" Saito shouted, waving a hand over her helmet's optics. Her eyes opened. There were traces of tears beginning to form in them.

"Why me?" She asked, softly.

"I don't know. But I do know that you are right here, right now, as my Familiar. My job is to take care of you, both inside and out of the warzone, and it is a job that I intend to do." Saito replied.

"But why ME? Couldn't it have been Kirche, or Guiche, or someone else? Why does everything horrible always happen to me?" The girl said, tears beginning to run down her cheeks.

"What is your name, Familiar?" Saito asked.

"L-Louise." the girl answered.

"Louise it is then. Listen, I can't do anything to comfort you right now. Hell, one or even both of us might die in the next couple of minutes, but if we live through this, I'll let you cry all you want. After all, Magika corps or not, we're all still human, and our emotions show that we are better than the cloned mutants the enemy throws at us. Now man up and make the aliens fear your name, Louise!" Saito finished his speech moments before the elevator reached its destination. The mages cast their barriers, the aetheric walls shimmering into existence just as the door opened. A storm of green fire met them as alien defense turrets swiveled and acquired turrets. Saito fired at the ground, creating a series of crude stone barricades tall enough for a man to hide behind. The hardsuits rushed out, particle cannons releasing a storm of death upon the alien forces defending the landing craft. One of the hardsuits fired a focus cannon, its runic array configured to fire single, heavy bolts. The energy bolt slammed into one of the turrets, cutting it in half, the top half being reduced to molten slag.

The screech of an alien fighter rang out in Saito's ears as the skeletal craft, its wings like scythes and its fusilage bristling with plasma cannons, dove towards the human forces.

"Louise, take out that fighter!" Saito shouted, the girl in question taking aim before firing. The fighter's shields caught the brunt of the blast, but a significant portion of energy got through, causing enough damage to send the craft spiraling down towards the ground.

Sprinting past the twisted metal hulk of an AA particle cannon, Saito took aim at the downed ship's cockpit, firing a burst of fireballs into it. The screech of the alien pilot roasting alive was music to his ears.

Saito rolled out of the way of a hostile fighter's strafing run, a barrage of cannon bolts indiscriminately mowing down a squad of non-magical troops who weren't so lucky. As the fighter streaked away, a beam of pure white energy sliced upward as a Magika corpsman returned fire, the attack slicing the fighter craft in half, it's shields already weakened by fire from one of the hardsuits.

"Reinforcements ETA 5 minutes!" The voice sounded in his helmet, just as a hardsuit charged towards one of the landed transports, magi-flamethrower mounted under one arm and a phase blade on the other. The mech stabbed the blade into the ship's sealed door, the weapon quickly vibrating the door's molecules apart, spraying the craft's entrance with incredibly hot fire. Saito began to run towards the downed landing craft, Louise following behind him.

"Louise, guard the entrance. Make sure the enemy doesn't try to blow up that ship with us still inside. Got it?"

"Yes!" The girl shouted back, before Saito created a set of barricades to shield her from infantry fire. Then, Saito rushed in, hot on the heels of a pair of Magika Corps commandos.

The fight inside the ship was short but bloody. One of the Magika Corpsmen died in the ship's reactor core, his shields overwhelmed by a pair of auto-turrets deploying at point blank range. The other lost his familiar while fighting his way to the bridge, the black, six winged raven taking a plasma bolt to the face, dissipating in a storm of feathers. Inside the bridge itself, the mage was suddenly impaled by a psychic bolt from the psion in command of the vessel, the attack giving Saito the opportunity to mow the alien down with a barrage of stone splinters, the alien collapsing on top of the dead mage's quickly vaporized corpse.

"This is trainee Saito Hiraga. Transport Craft 1 is clear of hostiles." Saito reported in, before walking out of the craft. Several troops escorting a combat engineer rushed in, the engineer quickly and methodically deactivating any teleporters active inside the ship.

"Excellent work trainee Hiraga. We'll take it from here." One of the troops said as Saito exited the craft.

Then, a shadow fell over the battleground. Saito looked up to see a sight for sore eyes.

"This is Admiral Preston of the United Earth Third Fleet. The cavalry has arrived." A deep, rich voice filled the speakers of Saito's helmet. The giant capital ship that now held position over the academy was proof of the fact.

A squadron of runic enhanced fighters exited the ship's hangars, while the giant ship itself engaged the trio of alien frigates that had, until then, prowled the skies above the academy uncontested. The _Tripitz, _for that was the warship's name, fired a pair of energy bolts from its main focus cannons, the white beams shattering one of the frigates, while the battlecruiser's escorting destroyers engaged the two remaining alien craft, quickly eliminating them. The rapidly swiveling particle turrets lining the ships' sides made short work of the alien fighters, quickly reducing them to piles of slag on the ground.

Bays on the battleship's sides opened up, and the members of the 101st Magika Corps division leaped out, using their manipulation of the air currents to arrest their falls, landing around the second transport craft. A few explosions rang out as the soldiers detonated breaching charges before entering the craft, making short work of its surviving occupants. The alien threat had been repelled, and the battle was won.

"Attention all personnel affiliated with the academy. Please return to the academy and prepare for geographic transfer. The transfer should take place in 1 hour."

Obediently, Saito walked into the lift, his familiar following right behind him. As the lift began to descend, Saito removed his helmet, tucking it under his arm. Louise did the same, her pink hair cascading out of the helmet that had kept it trapped.

"Allright, Louise. I'll go and requisition a few sets of clothes for you. Follow me." Saito said as the lift reached the bottom. Walking past the pitted and scarred barricade that held the line at Delta elevator, past the focus cannon, and past the ash that was once human, Saito and Louise moved quickly towards the requisitions office, which happened to be conveniently located in the Delta block. Entering, Saito walked up to the servitor that took the job of quartermaster.

"What can I do for you?" The servitor asked cheerfully, ignorant of the battle that had just taken place.

"I would like to requisition a set of standard issue equipment for Louise." Saito said, gesturing towards the girl in question.

"Excellent. Stand on the scanning pad, Louise." The servitor said, gesturing towards the pad. Louise obliged.

"Retrieving body measurements from armor data storage." The servitor said. "Measurements retrieved. Beginning fabrication process." Then, about a minute later, "Fabrication completed. Please claim your requisitioned material from the receptacle on the right of the fabricator."

The clothes in question dropped out, neatly folded.

"They're all yours, Louise. You'll be wearing this uniform for the rest of your time at this academy. You will be quartered in the same room as me, as the other bunk has recently become... vacant." Saito's voice dropped at the last part. It meant that his roommate had died. While he did not particularly know the boy, it was still a terrible loss.

"Where is it?" Louise asked.

"We'll head to the armory first to drop off our armor and gear. Then, I'll lead you to it. Saito said, before setting a brisk pace towards the armory.

* * *

><p>After dropping off their gear, the trainees were ordered to report to the auditorium. There, it was explained that, due to damage to Gamma block, the following day would be free, aside from mandatory PT exercises and drills. After the speech was concluded, the geographic transfer device was engaged, effectively teleporting the academy from its old site in Japan to a new location in the south of Nevada. On the surface, it seemed that nothing happened, the lift towers being camouflaged from the air with specialized runic arrays, but underground, millions of tons of dirt and rock were displaced, being replaced by the academy as it was relocated. Once the process was completed, Saito and his familiar finally left to their quarters, Saito retrieving his belongings from the summoning hall before he did so..<p>

Arriving in the small room, Saito deposited his belongings on the floor near the entrance and removed his boots. Then, he climbed up to the top bunk, collapsing into the bed's soft sheets. Then, he spoke.

"So, Louise, what do you wish to know?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And the first chapter of this story is finished. As I said in the notes at the top, I plan to start one more new story, as well as update one of my older ones in the near future. With that out of the way, I would like to ask my readers to please review. I consider reviews to be even more important than follows or favs, as they tell me what I am doing wrong or right, and thus allow me to correct my mistakes and keep doing what my readers enjoy.**

**With that in mind, I would like to hope that you enjoy the story.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I'm glad to see that the first chapter of this story has been positively received. I will try to keep up the good work.**

**Chapter 2- Introductions**

"So, Louise, what do you wish to know?" Saito asked, lying down on the top bunk, eyes staring up at the room's ceiling. It was a few seconds before he got a response.

"Where am I?" Louise finally asked.

"You are at the Magika Corps headquarters and training facility. Here, the best of Earth's mages are trained to become elite soldiers to combat the alien threat." Saito replied.

"So it's a school for magic?" The pink haired girl asked.

"That is only a small part of it, but yes. We are taught combat magic here, among other things."

"So you are a noble?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Isn't it obvious? You know magic! That makes you nobility!"

"Was your society ruled by some sort of king or queen, with land owning nobility beneath them having custody of the common citizen?" Saito asked.

"Of course!"

"Ah. So you came from a medieval-esque feudal society where the ruling class used their magic to keep the non-magical people in line. We had a society like that once, but it is long gone. There are no kings or nobles on Earth and its colonies."

"Then who governs the commoners? Don't tell me they rule themselves!"

"Before the war, our government was a republic. We elected representatives, and they ruled for a set period of time before being swapped out, but when the invasion happened, that government collapsed, and in its place the Directorate rose. The Directorate is composed of twelve chancellors, who are appointed for life or until the war and its immediate aftereffects have been overcome. The twelve have absolute power, so I guess you can call them kings, although should they screw things up too badly, they can still be traded out. They've done an admirable job keeping us in the war, but as soon as it's done, our economy's gonna be fucked in more ways than I can count. Hell, they aren't even paying us in the military, just handing us an IOU on the off chance that we'll live long enough to collect. Our economy is practically nonexistent by now, with almost all consumer good production halted and the stock exchange computers being converted into targeting devices. But we're still fighting. Had the old republic still been in power, they wouldn't have been able to get the worldwide defense grid approved, and would have continued to be split on the issue until an alien dreadnought came and nuked them off the face of the planet, but the Directorate just said to get it done, and presto! Now, the aliens can't get their big ships close enough to Earth without them getting blown to hell by the giant defense guns we've got up and running. So, to sum it up, the Directorate is the perfect government for wartime, but as soon as the war is over, they're gonna be out on their asses in no time flat." Saito explained.

"Why are you fighting the war in the first place? Why did the aliens come here?" Louise asked.

"To be honest, we don't quite know why they've suddenly appeared, but we do know that they're not gonna stop until every one of us is dead, or worse."

"How did the war start?"

"Well, if you want to know how the war started, you'll need a little bit of background history. In the year 2134, humanity established its first colony on Mars, the fourth planet in our system, having used magecraft to terraform the planet to suit our needs. Mars soon became an incredibly profitable mining colony, spiking interest in extrasolar colonization, or sending our colonists to other stars. By 2213, humanity had established four colonies outside the home system, them being Terra Nova, Eden, Haven, and Prospero. It was an age of prosperity, where mage and non-mage alike worked together to bring about a golden age for humanity. Then, in 2236, Prospero went silent. Being a small colony of less than one million people, it was assumed to be a problem with the planet's comm network." Saito paused briefly, before continuing.

"The Prospero incident, as it came to be known, was soon old news, and was soon out of the public's mindset. Then, two months later, Haven and Eden went silent, both within a day of each other. Ships were dispatched to all three dark planets in order to ascertain the problem. They never returned. It was a week later that we finally saw what the cause behind the events was, when Terra Nova, a colony of over 1.2 billion, sent out a flood of distress messages. Live footage of the woefully underequipped and outnumbered Terra Nova militia fighting against legions of aliens was among the messages sent. Terra Nova held out for three days before going dark. By then, the Earth fleet had already been cobbled together from mining vessels, cargo and passenger transports, and the few actual warships of the mothballed Earth fleet. Production of new military vessels was already underway, with many vessels still in fabrication being converted into warships. We thought that we might even be able to drive them from the system, but on August 8th, 2236, we saw just how outmatched we were. On that day, thousands of alien warships appeared in system, with Mars in their sights."

"In a move that sealed their fate, but likely ensured our continued survival, the Earth Republican Government refused to send the hastily assembled Earth fleet to relieve the besieged colony, instead choosing to concentrate on building up their own forces. However, the militarized and forewarned Mars colony successfully prevented the aliens from landing on their soil for an entire week, using improvised mass drivers to shoot down landing alien craft. Despite the improvised Mars fleet being completely annihilated within an hour, the mining world fought back alone for almost a month, using hastily modified mining lasers as field artillery and converted ore barges as airborne gun platforms. While all this was going on, the Republic was replaced by the Directorate, the older government being deemed inadequate by the people of Earth. The newly instated Directorate ramped up military production to an astounding degree at the expense of many civilian works, which were deemed unnecessary. Using the opportunity, they began construction of the Earth Defense grid, consisting of thousands of incredibly powerful focus cannons that could destroy even the alien dreadnoughts with a single shot, the massive cannons being placed strategically across the globe, with entire islands being created by thousands of earth mages to house the guns that would cover the oceans. With warships being built en masse and the defense grid taking shape, the Directorate then decided that it would be prudent to relieve Mars by the end of the month. The newly formed Fifth and Sixth fleets were dispatched to the besieged world, with the intent of driving the aliens from the planet's orbit. The resulting engagement almost became the greatest disaster in Earth military history."

"Outgunned and outnumbered, the two fleets were met with overwhelming resistance, the Sixth fleet's flagship being destroyed within minutes of the battle's start. The aliens easily outmatched us in terms of tactics, and were on the verge of destroying our fleet. However, salvation came from an unlikely source. As the Earth fleet was on the verge of cutting its losses and running, a flotilla of improvised warships exited FTL among the alien fleet. This was the remnants of the Terra Nova improvised warfleet, the colony having received a warning in the form of a ship that had fled from Prospero arriving in its system a day before the aliens hit Terra Nova. Using the warning to improvise their own fleet of warships while attempting to send a message to Earth, the message arriving too late. When the alien invasion hit, the Terra Nova colonial fleet was ordered to retreat from the colony and head to Earth rather than stay and fight. Exiting FTL in the middle of the alien formation with guns blazing, the attack caught the aliens completely by surprise, causing massive casualties. While the colonial fleet took extremely heavy losses, it allowed the remnants of the Fifth and Sixth fleets to land troops and vital supplies on Mars, while allowing the warships to establish a permanent foothold in Martian orbit, hastily converting Deimos, one of Mars's two tiny moons, into a fortress, clearing a corridor for further resupplying of the Mars militia, which allowed for a guerrilla war to be fought on Mars to this day. This victory was celebrated all over Earth, but the celebrations were not to last. Our defeat of the aliens convinced them to allocate additional resources to the war, allowing them to open up a second front. On September 2nd, 2236, a massive alien fleet appeared in Earth orbit, catching our own fleets completely by surprise. The incomplete defense grid was useless against the invading force, and the battle over Earth was lost within 3 days, the admirals ordering their few remaining ships to retreat into the atmosphere, where ground based installations could provide support against the relentless alien assault."

"The four hell months began afterward, with Alien capital ships prowling unopposed through the air, alien fighters bombing our cities, razing them to the ground. 4 billion people died during those four months alone, mostly civilian casualties. Then, in the January of 2237, the first gun of the defense grid came online, and the war changed once again, this time becoming a stalemate. Within a week of the first activation, over two hundred defense cannons were operational, enough to put a significant dent into the alien forces in orbit. The defense grid was fully online by the end of January, driving them from Earth orbit. With over one thousand giant focus cannons firing energy rays at 99% of light speed, everything within 5 light seconds of Earth became a killzone for the larger alien craft, which were unable to easily dodge the energy blasts. Currently, the majority of the alien fleet uses the moon to shield itself from the defense grid's cannons. It is likely that they have established permanent installations on the dark side of the moon as well. They are unable to send their bigger capital ships out from behind the moon due to our defense grid being easily able to destroy them, forcing them to rely on much smaller frigates and troopships to carry their soldiers down to Earth. However, the defense cannon sites have become battlegrounds, because if the aliens can capture or destroy even a small group of defense cannons, their fleet will once again be able to attack Earth without needing to worry about being blasted to pieces while still in space. We've been like this for twenty years now, neither side having a permanent advantage. That is the war's history in a nutshell. Any questions?" Saito finally finished his explanation.

"Yes. Why haven't you been able to rout the enemy from their emplacement behind your moon?" Louise asked.

"We lost far too many capital ships during the battle in Earth orbit, and we lack the facilities to build anything bigger than a frigate in bulk. All the orbital shipyards have been wrecked, and any attempt to build new ones or repair the hulks in orbit are met with massed attacks by alien frigates, making the construction of new shipyards impossible. Our current ships have undergone multiple refits, but we simply lack the facilities to build new ones." Saito replied. "Anything else?"

"Yes. What will happen to me now? Can you send me back home?" Louise asked, curiosity being replaced by desperation.

"I am afraid that until we know where to send you, we cannot do anything. While we have scans of the portal and will likely be able to eventually replicate it, it will not happen in the near future, and the Magika Corps will be unwilling to let you go now that you are my familiar. Any expedition into your world will be entirely for our benefit and not yours. We simply cannot afford to place your needs over the needs of the billions of people on Earth and Mars, and every member of the Magika Corps is enough to make a significant difference in our war effort. You are already an unofficial member of the Corps, and the paperwork is already being filled out to streamline your impression into the force. I'm sorry, but we will not be making plans to send you back home in the near future unless the benefits outweigh your loss." The words were spoken with a heavy tone as Saito watched the girl's face change, first to hope, then to despair, then breaking into tears as the final sentence was said.

"No, this can't be happening! This can't be happening!" Louise said, more to herself than to Saito. "Mother... Eleanor... Big sister Catt..." The quiet crying became full on sobs as the last name was uttered, the pink haired girl slowly sinking to her knees, her only hope of ever returning home crushed forever.

Suddenly, the girl looked up. "Send me back." She said.

"I'm afraid I can't do th-"

"I said, SEND ME BACK!" the girl shouted, tears streaming from her eyes. "I don't want to fight in your war! I just want to go home..." She trailed off, collapsing on the lower bunk. As the lights went out, indicating the day's end, Saito drifted off to sleep, listening to the girl in the bed below him sobbing herself into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Saito awoke at exactly 5:00 AM, his internal alarm set to stimulate his brain into wakefullness at that precise moment. Leaping down from the top bunk, he landed on his feet, muffling the noise with Air magic. He saw Louise lying on the lower bunk, a frown on her sleeping face, tear tracks still visible on her cheeks.<p>

"Wake up." Saito said, shaking her awake. As her eyes slowly flickered open, they scanned the room, focusing on Saito.

"It wasn't a dream..." Louise mumbled, looking all too ready to start crying once again.

"No it wasn't. Now, morning PT exercises start at 6. I want to be finished with breakfast by five thirty. Get your uniform on and grab your gear. Move it!" Saito shouted, spurring the girl into action. Quickly donning his own uniform, Saito turned to Louise, who had yet to start changing into her own.

"Do you want to miss breakfast? Get changed, or I'm leaving without you!" Saito shouted, causing her to jump briefly before donning her own uniform. Sprinting out the door, Saito and Louise navigated the maze of hallways, the latter following in the former's footsteps.

Finally, they arrived at their destination, the mess hall already full of trainees, their ages ranging from eighteen to as young as seven. By order of the directorate, all children were screened for magical potency at age 7, and those with a power of class 4 or higher were sent directly to the Magika Corps, the rest going to other magical or non-magical training facilities. Graduation came at age 18, and survivors were retired at age 28, being encouraged to raise large amounts of children, with rewards of property and hypothetical cash being offered for each additional child.

Saito was in his second-to-last year of training, being 17 years old, and thus already commanded a good deal of respect from the junior students. Many younger students made way for him and his familiar as they moved through the mess hall, obtained their bowls of processed nutrient paste, and sat down at one of the tables. Saito quickly gulped his down, the tasteless mush being the only food he had ever known at the academy. He noticed Louise tentatively poking at the blob with one of her utensils.

"What did you expect, a three course banquet? There's a war on, we have no time for luxuries like fresh food. Now eat up." He said. Louise obediently ate, a grimace present on her face.

Immediately after finishing their food, the pair made their way to a large receptacle in the side of the room, dropping off their plain white bowls for the servitors to clean.

"Let's go. PT exercises start soon." Saito said, motioning for his familiar to follow him, the small, pink haired girl walking after him.

Arriving early, Saito sat down on the floor of the giant underground gymnasium, copying the example of what few other students were present. The room rapidly filled over the course of the next few minutes, until, at precisely 6 AM, the drill sergeant strode in.

The entire class stood, rapidly arranging itself into orderly rows. Unlike the stereotypical enraged and screaming drill sergeants of old, Sergeant Blackstone simply gave the group a disapproving glance before speaking.

"Twelve laps. Thirty minutes. Now." The man spoke. The entire class sprinted towards the track, not intending to get on the sergeant's wrong side. They all remembered what happened to the last trainee who did.

After the second lap, Saito noticed a strange, rasping noise behind him. Turning his head without breaking a stride, he saw Louise, red faced and panting, drawing ragged breath after ragged breath. At first, Saito wondered why the girl was so out of shape. After all, an augmented trainee would have to have been subjected to significant muscular atrophy to be already out of breath at the second lap!

Then it struck him. Louise was unaugmented. Signalling for the sergeant, Saito kept running.

"Yes, trainee? What is it?" The sergeant asked, his voice barely audible over the running trainees but still carrying a severe tone.

"My familiar, the pink haired girl behind me, she is not augmented. Permission for her to cease the exercise?" He asked.

"Granted. Two more laps for you, trainee Hiraga." The sergeant said, before slowing down and ordering Louise to stop her running. Saito continued his own exercise, including the two punitive laps assigned to him. As he finally slowed down and allowed his burning muscles to stop working, he noticed an officer standing at the edge of the room.

"Trainee Hiraga. You and your familiar are ordered to come with me." The officer, a psion, spoke telepathically, his voice echoing in Saito's own mind. Psionics, a subclass of body magic, dealt with mental manipulation and was the only form of magic that the aliens could use. Telepathy, however, was not so much psionics as it was simply a use of body magic to cause eardrums to vibrate in very specific patterns.

"Louise, come with me." Saito said, gesturing to his familiar. The pair followed the officer out of the room, navigating the labyrinthine passageways of the facility until they arrived at a door that Saito recognized as the augmentics lab. Dealing with both cybernetic and genetic augmentations, the laboratory was constantly creating new magical and nonmagical modifications, the best body mages, genetic engineers, and cybernetic engineers working to create them.

After entering, the officer turned to the pair.

"Trainee Hiraga, wait here. Trainee Valliere, follow me."

"Valliere? Who is... oh." Saito wondered out loud, realizing that the psion had read the girl's mind.

"Come with me, trainee Valliere." The officer repeated, before turning, the girl following him.

* * *

><p>Louise followed the tall man into a large, white room, lit by bright white lights and giving off an air of extreme sterility.<p>

"Trainee Valliere. It has come to my attention that you have not undergone the standard augmentation process required for all Magika Corps members due to your nature as an extradimensional familiar. Am I correct in this?" The officer asked.

"Yes, it is." Louise replied, unnerved by how the man not only knew her last name, which she had not said once since she was summoned, but also seemed to know everything else about her.

"You shall address me and all other superior officers as 'Sir' or 'Ma'am' for the duration of your stay here, do I make myself clear?" The officer said.

"Yes, sir." Louise replied.

"Good. Now, you will now undergo the standard augmentation process. This will severely increase both your bodily and magical capabilities to the point where you are on a par with the other trainees. Once I leave, you are to remove any clothing you are wearing, including your bodysuit, and stand in the tank present on the wall. The operation will then commence. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Louise did.

"Good. I'll leave you to it." The man walked out of the room, leaving Louise to do exactly as he had said. Her clothes neatly piled in a receptacle near the tank, she entered the tank itself, standing still, arms at her sides. Then, with a whirr, the glass around the tank slid together, encasing her inside the vessel. A yellowish gas quickly filled the tank, and Louise blacked out.

* * *

><p>Louise's eyes slowly flickered open. She felt herself surrounded on all sides by wetness, the liquid surrounding her lapping around her bare skin. A mask covered her face, allowing her to breathe despite the fluid surrounding her on all sides.<p>

A rushing noise suddenly filled her ears, the fluid in the tank slowly draining out. She shivered as cold air washed against her moist skin. Then, there came the spray of water as several nozzles directed the clear liquid around her, quickly washing away any trace of the green-yellow fluid she awoke in. This was followed seconds later by a blast of hot air, the water flash evaporating off her. The entire cleaning process took twenty seconds. Then, the glass walls of the tank slid open, and Louise collapsed out, landing on hands and knees, taking her first breath of semi-fresh air in three days.

"Get up Louise, and put some clothes on." The voice of Saito Hiraga sounded in her ears. With a newfound strength, Louise stood, before quickly donning the bodysuit and uniform of the Magika Corps trainees.

"Good work trainee Valliere. Now, let's put those augments to the test. The in-ear comms implant is already working, as you can hear me. Now, we'll test the physical augmentations. In the corner of the room, there are a series of weights. I want you to pick them up, starting with the two hundred kilogram one, and moving up until you are physically incapable of lifting any more."

Walking over to the corner, Louise began to lift the weights, until she finally stopped at the 1000 kilogram block.

"Good. Strength augmentations functioning within expected parameters. Now for the reflex augmentations. Stand still, and attempt to dodge the balls as they are thrown at you. Ready, begin."

Louise then leaped out of the way of a black ball, flung towards her out of a hidden shooter in the wall. She continued to leap, flip, cartweel, and in general fly out of the way of the incoming balls, the intensity of the barrage slowly increasing until finally she was hit.

"Reflex augmentations functioning within expected parameters. We won't be testing the self destruct system for obvious reasons, and the healing factor and organ redundancies have already been checked. Now for the magical augmentations. A network of magic circuits has been woven into your skin, to boost your magical potential and casting efficiency and control. Cast a spell, it doesn't matter which."

Louise complied, casting a fireball. As expected, the result was an explosion. What Louise did not expect, however, was a series of fine lines all over her arm glow a bright blue, followed by a massive gout of fire that sprang from her hand, leaving a black scorch mark on the wall.

"Excellent. Your partner will later explain to you the exact nuances of the augmentations, but for now, you are to report to the simulator room. Use your ocular implants to locate the sim-room, or just follow your partner. You are dismissed, trainee Valliere." The voice stopped talking, and a door slid open on the far wall. Saito Hiraga stood in the doorway, eyeing her critically.

"Are you allright?" He asked.

"I'm fine... I think. What did they do to me in there?" Louise asked.

"I can explain later. Right now, you are to come with me. While you were in surgery, the paperwork to make you an official member of the Magika Corps was completed. Due to your status as my familiar, you have been assigned to fill a recently vacant position in training squad 131, designation Warlord. Scans indicate that you are a class 5 power level mage, class 9 with augments, with an affinity for Aether magic, with a secondary affinity for fire and emotional magic, your prime weaknesses being in body and earth magic. This is acceptable, as our squad's previous Aether mage was confirmed KIA yesterday. Any questions?"

"What? Aether magic? Emotional? What are you talking about? There are only four elements, fire, water, air, and earth! There was once a fifth, void, but that has been long lost!"

"Fire, water, air, and earth are known as the basic elements of nature, and were the earliest magic elements to be discovered. Fire deals with the transfer of energy, as well as the mediation of chemical reactions. While fire is the most obvious form of this magic, this magic can also be used to cool objects down, or force a chemical reaction. In a way, Ice magic is actually a fusion of water and fire magic, with fire magic being used to remove thermal energy from the water in order to flash freeze it. Water, air, and earth magic, meanwhile, deal with the physical manipulation of the various states of matter. Water can manipulate any liquid, the most commonly used one being water, although there are some water mages that carry a supply of acids and poisons with them for combat use. Earth, meanwhile, works with solids. Anything that is solid at room temperature can be manipulated by an Earth mage, examples being most metals and solid compounds. Air, meanwhile, deals with gasses. If it's a gas at room temperature, air magic can manipulate it, regardless of its state at the moment. Are you with me so far?" Saito asked.

"I think I understand. But that still does not explain all those other strange elements!"

"I'm getting to that. For hundreds of years after magic was first discovered, it was believed that there were only the four elements that I have just described. However, during the early 1700s, it was found that a person's emotional state had a noticeable effect on their magic. Further study led to the discovery of what was then described as two new elements, classified as light and dark. These were supposedly determined by a person's natural emotional alignment, with what was then termed light being considered holy by some, while dark was destructive and difficult to control, leading to several 'witch hunts' where dark users were persecuted as evil mages. However, eventually it was realized that 'light' and 'dark' were actually much more closely related than was previously thought, to the point of them being almost like one element. While your emotional state has a constant effect on your magic, with foul dispositions generally resulting in far more destructive spells, raw emotion can be used to direct one's magic supply as well, the magic manifesting according to one's emotional state. For example, a foul tempered mage would tend to cast powerful explosions, while a benevolent, kind wizard would be able to use his force to both strengthen, heal, and defend his allies."

"But that would mean that I've been casting emotional magic this whole time!" Louise crowed, before beginning to laugh. "All this time, I thought I was nothing but a Zero, but Kirche, you have been proven wrong today!" The pink haired girl cried, cackling madly, unconsciously channeling magic into her words, her sub-dermal magic circuits lighting up, while a black mist slowly formed around her. Saito's hand passing in front of her face snapped her out of her reverie.

"Are you allright?" He asked.

"Fine, fine! Nothing wrong here!" Louise said in an all too bright and cheerful tone.

"Whatever you say. Anyway, soon after the light and dark elements were reclassified as emotional magic, a huge amount of research began on magic, a topic that people previously took for granted. Everyone wanted to discover the next new element, and Aether was discovered in 1902 by a trio of mages who were studying the 'Summon Familiar' spell, which was previously assumed to be emotional magic manifesting as an ideal partner for the mage. However, they discovered that creating a familiar through emotional magic was incredibly taxing in terms of magical power use, so much so that multiple mages were needed to summon even the most minute of familiars, and even that dispersed soon afterward, much unlike the easy to summon and maintain familiars used by mages. Their efforts eventually led to the discovery of both the Aetheric realm and the Aether element. The Aetheric realm seems to be a dimension composed almost entirely out of magical energy, which Aether mages bring into the world, using it to conjure various aetheric constructs to aid them, both in and out of combat. Finally, there is body magic, which was long thought to be a subset of Water magic. However, through experimentation, it was eventually reclassed as its own element, which is dedicated to manipulating biological matter. Anything alive, from the smallest plant to the largest animal, can be manipulated through body magic."

"Finally, there is the pseudo-element known as psionics. Body mages have a chance of possessing a certain gene, known as the psi-gene, which allows them to use their body magic to influence not only the body, but the mind as well. Psionics is the only form of magic that the aliens are known to possess, with certain alien combat morphs utilizing a combination of genetic engineering and cybernetic implants to use their own equivalent of psionic magics, although operating on entirely different principles than our own. Do you have any questions?"

"No."

"Good. We're almost at the sim-room. Once there, myself, along with the rest of Warlord squad, will evaluate your combat capabilities in a simulated combat environment. We'll be spending most of our time down in there, running combat simulations, with only our tenth year courses to interrupt our time there. Next year, though, we will be spending our entire year in there, preparing for the final examination, which will be a live combat op. Anyway, we're here now, so come inside and meet your teammates for the rest of your life here at the academy and beyond."

With those words, Saito walked through a large door that slid open as he approached, Louise following behind him, walking to meet the rest of Warlord squad.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And that's a wrap for this chapter. I hope you all read it, enjoy it, etc.**

**With regards to Louise seeming slightly OOC in this chapter, especially post augmentation, I have done so intentionally, and I shall reveal the reason behind this in a chapter or two, for those who have not figured it out by then. In addition, a rash of plot bunnies have spawned yet another twisted hellspawn of a story, namely a particularly dark (at least in my opinion) Harry Potter/Warhammer 40k crossover.**

**The first chapter of it will be out soon, and a poll will be up on my profile asking for whether I should continue it or not. With that in mind, enjoy the story.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Did I ever mention how much I hate writing second chapters? The first chapter of any fic sets a precedent for expected quality, for better or for worse, and the second chapter is automatically forced to live up to said precedent. The only problem is that most of the initial worldbuilding was already done in the first chapter, meaning that I have a much more narrow supply of available material when it comes to Chapter 2 and beyond. Thus, the second chapter tends to be a massive disappointment when compared directly with the first chapter, although by chapter 3 and beyond, a happy medium between the two is usually achieved.**

**Anyway, with that rant about my inability to continue what I've started over, I am pleased to present the third chapter of Summoned to War.**

**Chapter 3- Simulation **

**Meanwhile, back in Tristain**

Old Osmond looked up at the stern faced, pink haired woman that was giving him a death glare.

"I ask again. Where is my daughter?" Karin of the Heavy Wind said, her voice hard as stone.

"I am afraid that I do not know. All I have to go on is Professor Colbert's report, as well as the eyewitness accounts of the various students present, which simply restate various parts of the report in a more self-indulgent, less complete light. Rest assured that we are doing all we can to find Louise, but all that we can, unfortunately, does not amount to much at the moment." Osmond replied.

"What do you know about her disappearance?" Karin asked.

"As I said before, the only reliable source of information we have is Professor Colbert's report, which claims that Louise, after failing to summon a familiar after several seconds, walked to the center of her summoning circle before disappearing in a flash of light. Some students report that they saw her lips move, as if saying something, but those reports are unreliable. However, if what they say is true, it seems that Louise has somehow reverse-summoned herself, which means that she could be anywhere in the world right now, assuming that she is still alive."

"She is. I taught all my daughters personally. To let something as pathetic as wildlife end her would be a disgraceful end to any Valliere."

"Please, Karin! If that theory is indeed true, then she could have appeared in the middle of the ocean, or have been stranded deep underground! Not to mention that most familiar creatures live in excessively dangerous habitats, so she could have been sent to any one of the most dangerous, inhospitable places on this world! By the founder, she could have even left this world entirely!"

"Explain."

"Louise's summoning ritual was... unique, to say the least. Her search criteria were expanded to the universe, rather than confined to this world. If she were outside of this world, it would be impossible to recover her, should she still live. Rest assured that we are doing all we can, but until we can ascertain what exactly happened during the summoning ritual, it is impossible for us to proceed any further. All we can do now is pray to the founder for something to come up."

"Then get praying. Louise is my daughter, and I will not rest until she is returned to me." Karin said, before turning and leaving the room.

* * *

><p><strong>Back at the Magika Corps training facility<strong>

Louise followed Saito into the Sim-room, her eyes looking at the foreign machinery in wonder. She saw tens, no, hundreds of trainees lying down in special racks, a mesh of wires and magic conduits covering their bodies. As she looked around, she continued to follow Saito until the boy stopped in front of a group of six other trainees, each of them in the same year as him.

"Saito! It's about time!" One of the students, a tall, dark skinned boy said. "I see you brought the newbie with you. Care to introduce her?" He asked.

"My name is Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. Now, would you care to introduce yourselves as well?" Louise said, noticing that her voice took a tone much like her mother's.

"Whoa, that's a mouthful. From now on, we'll call you Louise or Warlord 8." A shorter, black haired girl said. "I'm Mira Black, also known as Warlord 2. Water specialist."

"David Miller, aka Warlord 3, Air specialist." A tall, blonde haired boy who slightly resembled a far more muscular Guiche said.

"Maria Thorne. Warlord 4. Fire specialist." A girl with short cropped, scarlet hair mumbled quietly.

"Jason Yarrick, aka Warlord 5, specializing in Emotional magic, more specifically its darker side." A shorter, muscular boy with brown hair and a strange, metal arm that faintly shone with runes and a glowing scarlet prosthetic eye introduced himself.

"Henry Yarrick, or Warlord 6. I'm a psion, but my skill in body magic is fairly limited due to my injuries. I'm Jason's older brother. I also specialize in the use of runes, so consider me our squad's combat engineer." A brown haired boy who, to Louise's shock, had the entire lower half of his body replaced by cybernetics, along with one of his hands having the tell-tale glow of prosthetic enhancement. Several completely synthetic limbs also protruded from the boy's back, which, to Louise's horror, was also covered in cybernetic enhancements, with the boy's entire spine seemingly gone, replaced by a glowing orange implant. "Does my appearance scare you?" The older Yarrick asked, seeing Louise's facial expression. The pink haired girl nodded.

"I got this about two years ago, back when one of our magic dampeners malfunctioned and drew an alien invasion fleet down on our academy. A brute cut me in half with one of their energy clubs. If I hadn't been there to take the blow though, the bastard would have finished my brother, who lost his arm and eye to shrapnel a few seconds earlier. I have no regrets." The cyborg finished his explanation, before gesturing to the last member of the squad to introduce themselves.

"Heinrich Klein. Body mage and medic. Word to the wise though, I've tossed the Hippocratic oath out the window, and I've killed more aliens than I've healed people. You can call me Warlord 7. I assume that you already know Saito? He's our leader in field, callsign Warlord 1."

"Thank you, Heinrich." Saito said, before turning to the rest of the squad.

"Allright, our job today is to evaluate our new squadmate. From what I've managed to learn, she is an extradimensional summon, although she is a far cry from the last one of those we've had. Unlike the Sergeant Duran, she has zero combat experience outside of the battle that occurred four days ago. However, she is also a fairly powerful mage, being a Class 9 with augmentations, and specializes in Aether magic, although I've only seen her cast emotional magic." Saito said.

"Wait. You mean I'm not the first to be summoned from another universe?" Louise asked.

"Yeah, about two years ago a student named Leon Jacobi summoned a Sergeant Duran Belarion, who claimed to be a member of a unit called the 'Cadian 417th', which had been supposedly wiped out to a man, with him being the exception. During his time here before he was sent to the front, he made some effective alterations to the academy's training regimen, and should he survive his service time, he will be offered a permanent position here at the academy. Now, back to the topic at hand, Louise seems capable but unskilled in terms of magical power. Her previously lacking combat instinct, meanwhile, should already be supplanted by my own as per the familiar rune's capabilities. Hopefully, that has also imparted some magical knowledge as well, although anything above base instincts takes a while to transplant."

"Wait, what?!" Louise exclaimed.

"I'll explain the details behind the human familiar rune later, but for now, everyone is to find a sim unit and plug themselves in. I'll help you with the insertion process, Louise, as this is your first time." Saito said, before stripping down to his neuro-interface suit. Louise followed suit with minimal embarrassment. She then lay down on one of the sim units, closing her eyes as instructed, before Saito activated the insertion process. Then, Saito lay down in the unit next to hers, the insertion process activating, sending him into the randomly generated simulation.

* * *

><p>"Attention Warlord squad, this is control. Your mission is to deliver the nuclear payload to the alien shipyard facility and destroy it. While a trio of frigates act as a diversion, our transport will take you in within 2 kilometers, any closer and it will be an easy target for the station's point defense guns. You will be using jump packs for the final step of the journey. Once inside, you are to make your way to the central computer core of the station, recover any schematics stored within, before planting and arming a nuclear device inside the alien shipyard. Once the device's detonation is guaranteed, you are to use your jump packs to make your way to the exfiltration craft provided. Control out."<p>

The mission briefing finished, allowing Louise to take a good look at her surroundings.

She was in a cramped black space, lit only by dim red lights, although the area was quickly illuminated by her armor's night vision function. Looking out of one of the craft's small windows, she saw several frigates, which she recognized from the battle she had participated in four days ago, making their attack runs. Three bright blue streaks erupted from their bows, the ships' main focus guns firing. Each one slammed into one of the defensive turrets that were clearly visible on the giant space station, the turrets exploding as they were struck by the bolts of magical energy. Louise saw several streaks of light appear as several squadrons of alien fighters accelerated towards the frigates, their engine trails being all that Louise could see of the tiny craft.

The frigates fired again, their main guns hitting the station, although this time they glanced off the newly erected energy shield surrounding the shipyard. The faint blue-white streaks of point-defense guns opening fire, their containing turrets swiveling as they attempted to lead and fire on the alien fighter craft. Several tiny flashes indicated kills, before the frigates' energy shields began to flash as the fighters released their munitions, the plasma warheads detonating against the barriers. The frigates' guns fired again, their shots splashing against the alien defensive barrier. That was when the alien defense turrets returned fire. While the fighters had been ineffective in their attack, the giant plasma guns mounted on the station were anything but. The first salvo took out a frigate in two hits, the first overloading its barrier, while the second punched clean through its hull, catching at least one alien fighter in its path. The frigate exploded in a brilliant flash of blue-white light, the release of energy causing the other two frigates' energy barriers to flash, while any nearby fighters were vaporized by the release of heat. The two surviving frigates broke off their attack runs, accelerating through evasive maneuvers as their point defense guns continued to flash, first picking off any remaining fighters, then releasing broadside after broadside at the station, each volley washing over the station's barrier.

"Allright, make sure your suits are properly vac-sealed and your jump packs are on securely. We'll be reaching the drop-off point in 30 seconds." The voice of the pilot sounded out inside the troop compartment. Louise stood, looking first to the top-right corner of her helmet's view screen, which showed her armor as being properly sealed. She then checked her jump pack, making sure that it was clamped on securely, which it was.

"We are at the drop point. Venting troop compartment in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Venting compartment." With those words, the craft, which had already turned around, having drifted towards the target without any emissions, shuddered as its rear door opened. The loud 'Whoosh!' of air escaping from the compartment sounded out, as Warlord squad stood, the mag-clamps in their boots keeping them grounded in the zero-gravity environment.

"Everyone ready? Let's go." Saito said, before leaping out of the compartment, followed by the rest of Warlord squad, Louise being the last to exit the craft.

"We'll accelerate slowly towards the station until we are within 1 kilometer, which is when we'll cut emissions and drift. We'll then decelerate rapidly within 100 meters, before making our way to the designated entry point which I have highlighted on your HUD. Any questions?" Saito asked, the entry point in question glowing green on Louise's helmet display.

"Yes, how do I use this thing?" Louise asked.

"It's neurally linked to the rest of your body. Control it as if it were an extension of yourself. Failing that, think 'Jumppack accelerate, 10 feet/second/second." Heinrich said over the comm channel. Louise attempted to do that, willing a slow acceleration of 10ft/sec/sec. The jump pack ignited, propelling her slowly towards the alien base, her eyes constantly shifting between the speed indicator and the alien station that loomed ever closer.

"All squad members, re-orient yourselves for deceleration." Saito's voice rang out. Louise twisted herself around, her suit's gyroscopic stabilizers keeping her from spinning out of control.

"Louise, think 'Jumppack accelerate, maximum speed.'" Heinrich's voice rang out.

"But won't that speed me up?" Louise asked. She heard Heinrich sigh over the comm.

"Take a physics course or two. Then you'll understand. For now, just do as I say." Louise did, and surprisingly, saw her speed indicator start to rapidly decrease.

"Mag clamps on!" Saito said before he hit the station feet first, his jump pack cutting out. The rest of the squad did so as well, Louise feeling the impact in her legs, a small stab of pain shooting through her body. Willing her jump pack to deactivate, Louise was surprised to see it do so without a specific thought command.

Their feet firmly anchored to the station, Warlord squad began to walk, proceeding towards the entry point. About 2 minutes later, they reached it.

"Henry, you're up. Get us in." Saito ordered, the trainee in question walking up to the entry port and placing his various mechanical arms on it. A few flashes of light as the arms traced a circle, and the hatch was removed, the metal plate drifting off into space. Diving feet first into the hatch, the squad entered the station, one by one. Proceeding through the maintenance tunnel in single file, Warlord squad soon reached a locked hatch which blocked their entrance to the station proper.

"Henry, check for nearby hostiles, then get this hatch open. Heinrich, you take point, Louise, cover our rear. Keep your kills fast and silent."

"Got it." The rest of the squad chorused. Then, the door was cut open, and Warlord squad entered the station proper.

"I've got a path to the computer core. Marking it on the HUD now." A line glowed on Louise's helmet display, showing the most efficient known path to the computer core. They met their first enemies soon afterward, a small group of alien techs sitting at their posts. Heinrich quickly took them out with body magic, his weapon firing a near invisible pulse of energy that just barely disturbed the air it passed through. The techs' limbs locked, keeping them in a standing position, while several blood vessels burst inside the alien brains, killing them.

"They haven't noticed us." Henry said, performing a brief psionic scan. "Two more techs, behind a wall inside the room."

"I got them." Jason said, before the air inside the aliens' lungs suddenly punched through the organs, taking the form of several needles as it shot upward towards the brain, pulpin anything in its way. Outwardly, it seemed as though the aliens had simply hiccuped and fallen over, but internally, their bodies were a bloody mess.

"Enemy patrol coming in from behind. Contact in 10 seconds." Heinrich called out.

"Louise!" Saito called over the comm.

Waiting until the aliens were in her sight, Louise channeled her magic. Remembering that emotional magic was influenced by its wielder's emotional state, she focused all her sadness, homesickness, and anger at her situation into the magic pulse, before firing it. The entire process had taken less than a second. With a pair of faint popping noises, the alien heads exploded.

"Nice work. Now, let's get moving before someone finds the bodies." Saito ordered, the squad obeying. Moving at a brisk yet cautious pace, Warlord squad encountered minimal resistance on their way to the computer core. Entering the room, Maria quickly boiled the blood of the alien techs inside while Henry plugged in the data node that they had been carrying.

"Data is being extracted." Henry said. Just then, deep, thrumming alarms began to blare.

"Shit, they've found us. How long until the data is ready?" Saito asked.

"Uh, ten minutes." Henry replied.

"Allright. Henry, get the nuke armed and ready while I try to find a quick escape route. The rest of you, get some barricades up and hold the line." Saito said, using his Earth magic to quickly erect a set of barricades. He could have gone all out and walled the squad in, but that would have blocked their escape and allowed the enemy to build up outside the chamber, which would have worked out unfavorably in the long run.

"Here they come! Weapons free!" Saito shouted, taking aim as his helmet AI began searching for escape routes. A loud explosion shook the station as Louise worked her magic on the enemy forces, causing the entire first wave to disappear in a cloud of multicolored blood.

"Nice shot Louise." David said, before a bolt of lightning emanated from his hands, slamming into one of the aliens leading the next wave. The bolt chained from one enemy to another, before finally petering out after claiming its tenth kill. Then, the still falling alien corpses exploded into flames as Maria caused the organic material to combust all at once, releasing a massive amount of energy all at once, rather than the slow release had the corpses been simply ignited. The same fate quickly befell a number of still living aliens, which acted as small bombs in the middle of the massive rush of mutants that was heading in Warlord squad's direction. The mindless synthetic organisms didn't care for their losses though, their only purpose being to keep the squad's guns occupied until the real opposition got into position.

Just then, a long, thin six legged mecha leaped onto the room's ceiling, clinging onto the metal with its four rear legs, while its front two limbs ended in bladed machine guns. Its head mounted cannon turned towards Louise and began to crackle with green energy before the ceiling suddenly erupted outward, engulfing the Mantis robot and crushing it.

"I've got the escape route. There's an escape pod bay down the hall outside this room, but it's right next to a point defense battery, which will shoot us out of the sky as soon as we launch. Henry, once the nuke is armed, your orders are to disable the point defense guns. Take a team of three with you, the rest of us will guard the data unit." Saito ordered.

"Got it. Nuke should be armed and ready right about... now." Henry said, before turning to the group.

"Louise, Jason, Mira, on me!" Jason said, before moving to take position by the entrance. "Louise, clear a temporary path with an explosion right about there." A marker appeared on her HUD. "Mira, as soon as the explosion goes off, I want you to use any body fluids in the vicinity to create an ablative shield around us. Jason, keep their melee troops off of us. Kill them if you want, but your main priority is to keep them off of us while we sprint to the point defense guns. Saito, can I trust your force to cover me?" The older Yarrick sibling finished speaking.

"Will do." Saito said as he fired another burst, the corridor walls above head height closing up, forcing any flying enemies down to head level and into the general line of fire.

"Louise, get that explosion going! Take out as many as you can. Vector the blast wave so that it goes straight down the hallway rather than out into the walls if you can do that. Get to work!" Henry shouted, and Louise complied. Picturing the explosion as a bubble, Louise imagined the bubble spreading down the hallway rather than out in all directions. Then, she released her magic at the target point. She felt a noticeable mental exertion as the blast wave went off, attempting to spread as nature demanded it. Louise groaned as the mental strain was too much, and she released her control, the blast wave abandoning its path and beginning to expand naturally once again. All this had happened in the span of a second.

"Everyone out! Go! Go!" Henry shouted, the noise from the blast still echoing loudly in the squad's ears. Sprinting out of the computer core, their augmented muscles straining as their owners leaped multiple meters in a single bound, traveling at nearly a hundred meters per second. Half a second after exiting the core, the body fluids still floating in the air coalesced into floating shields, which sizzled and boiled away as they blocked plasma. During this time, rapidly rotating beams of energy emanated from Jason's hands, slicing apart any mutants that dared come close.

The run down the length of the hallway, which ran all the way down to the station's edge, lasted for nearly 30 seconds, during which Louise had set off three more explosions, albeit uncontrolled ones, to clear the path, the blood of her victims forming shields to cover them from plasma bolts. Finally, the group reached their destination, their muscles burning from overexertion.

"Cover me while I get the runic arrays going!" Henry said, before kneeling down behind one of the defense guns, pulling out a particle-cutter.

"Can't we just blow them up?" Louise asked, loosing an explosion at the alien forces charging down the hallway, the enemy's return fire splashing over a shield that Jason projected.

"Do you want to space us? The metal in these guns is magic resistant, while the station's hull plating isn't! An explosion powerful enough to take out these guns would cause a massive hull breach, and that would draw the alien space forces to us!" The elder Yarrick said, his metal arms extending particle beam cutters of their own, moving like the legs of a spider as they quickly and methodically carved runes into the cannon battery. A brief burst of magic, and the runes glowed blue, before lightning crackled across the gun battery. A series of small popping noises sounded out as the mechanisms inside the weapon overloaded and detonated. Runes were the only known type of magic that ignored all magic resistances, but nobody would go around carving runes into alien armor when it would just be easier to shoot them with a particle beam rifle.

"One down, one to go!" Henry exclaimed, right before there was a flash of green, and a plasma bolt bypassed Jason's failing shield and barely missed Mira's blood wards, punching clean through her chest.

"Warlord 2 is down!" Henry shouted into his helmet comm, right before a burst of plasma fire took his head off.

"Crap!" Jason shouted, dodging as a shot meant for him barely missed, glancing off his armor's shields and overloading them in the process.

"Can you destroy the gun?" Lousie asked as she set off an explosion in the general direction of the plasma fire's source.

"I think so, but I'll need a few minutes!" Jason said, rolling out of the way of a plasma barrage.

"Then cover me!" Louise said, picking up the cutter that Henry had dropped.

"What? You'll blow us all out of here!"

"No I won't." Louise said, activating the cutter and slicing a small hole through the magic resistant casing. Then, focusing her magic, she poured energy into it, intending to create a small, contained blast.

With a force akin to a single pound of C4, the explosion completely annihilated the interior mechanism of the gun, the magic resistant casing keeping the blast from spreading.

"This is Warlord Eight. The guns are down, but Warlord 6 and 2 are dead as well." Louise reported.

"Allright, hold out as long as you can. Data should finish transferring in 22 seconds, after which we'll start the nuke countdown and get over to your position. Blow a path clear for us, will you?" Saito shouted into her ear, the sound of spells going off in the background all too loud for her taste.

"Will do." Louise said, before casting an explosion, taking out another wave. Then, about 28 seconds later, Saito's voice rang out again.

"We're moving! Clear the way!" Saito screamed, and Louise focused her power into another explosion, clearing the hallway temporarily, allowing the distant figures of the remaining members of Warlord squad to sprint to her position.

"The escape pod is just down this way! We'll fire the empty pod as a distraction, then go out of the resulting opening with jump packs at full. We've got 9 minutes till the nuke goes off, so move it!" Saito shouted, pulling down a lever next to a hatch. With a rush of air escaping and a brief tremor, the hatch, along with several scraps of hull plate, were ejected into space.

"Jump packs at full. Let's go!" Saito ordered, igniting his own pack and accelerating into space. Louise and the rest of the surviving members of Warlord squad followed suit. The point defense guns gave them no trouble.

"Come in control. Objective has been accomplished and the package is secure. Where's our evac?" Saito said. In response, a point lit up on Louise's HUD a few moments later.

"The exfil craft just sent out a ping, but several fighters have been alerted to its location and are inbound, ETA 3 minutes. We've got 3 minutes, then the exfil craft is bugging out." Saito said, orienting himself in the direction of the ping, the rest of the squad following.

After nearly two minutes of flight, Louise caught sight of the exfiltration craft, a transport of a make identical to the one that had brought them in. Its rear door was open, and dim red light shone from inside, acting as a beacon to the incoming squad.

"Begin deceleration at 200 meters. Until then, cut engines." Saito said, his jump pack deactivating, a trend that was promptly copied by the rest of the squad. Orienting themselves so that they would enter the craft feet first, the squad activated jump packs at 200 meters, burning at maximum thrust. Despite this, however, the squad slammed hard into the back wall of the troop compartment, the door sliding shut behind them. There was a faint shudder as the craft accelerated away, then the world broke apart.

* * *

><p><em>Simulation Report WM119238-8<em>

_Subject: Trainee Louise Valliere, designation: Warlord 8_

_Squad Score: 83%._

_Trainee Score: 81%_

_Squad Performance Comments: Objective completed successfully. Mission completed successfully with two casualties. All objectives completed._

_Trainee Performance Comments: Performance in Emotional magic limited to explosions. Explosive skill utilized successfully in battle. Trainee holds highest alien kill count of all members of Warlord squad for this particular simulation. Skill in combat is limited, as combat instincts seem only partially developed. Capable of non-linear thought (Cut through mage-proof casing and used it to control explosion)_

_Trainee Performance Satisfactory_

_End evaluation._

Louise stared at the holographic report that hovered over her wrist-comp.

"Nice work Louise!" Saito congratulated her, his own report having been briefly glanced over before being closed. He then took a closer look at her report. "Only partially developed combat instincts? I guess that the familiar rune has been taking its time in the knowledge transfer. It should have finished by now, as all human familiars have reported the transfer of base instincts to have completed within 2 days of binding. You must have some form of resistance to mental magic, or to magic in general, for this to have happened." He commented.

"What do you mean? What is the familiar rune doing to my mind?" Louise asked.

"Well, the rune I bound you with was a special one designed in 1921 for use on human familiars, after the Sharpe incident of the previous year. Human familiars were rare, but they were a known occurrence. However, it was revealed in 1920 that an english mage by the name of Sharpe Thorndyke had summoned a little girl, no older than twelve years old, and had not reported the occurrence to the international mage confederation. The girl was, according to her accounts of the incident, beaten and raped constantly for four years. The incident had also revealed the extent of traditional binding runes on the human mind. By the time she was rescued, the girl had developed two personalities, one being her base one that hated her master, while the other was the product of the familiar runes, that created an obedient, loving slavelike persona that became the dominant personality of the two. The traditional familiar runes re-wrote her mind completely in their attempt to create a servile personality, regarding her original persona as a useless byproduct. Thus, with the effects of the familiar runes on the human mind revealed, a new binding specifically for humans was designed. Originally designed to be little more than a cosmetic marking, it soon underwent multiple revisions. After a mass-murderer was summoned in 1930 Paris, a set of mental blocks were added in that allowed the master to overwrite the servant's will with regards to certain subjects, namely what was considered criminal at the time. However, I doubt you want to hear about the history of this particular binding. The current iteration was designed specifically for this war, and imparts all the master's combat instinct and knowledge, both for physical and magical combat, to the familiar. Base instincts, like use of cover and minimization of frontal profile should have been transferred over within two days of summoning, but judging by how you froze up in front of that Mantis bot, they have not yet fully transferred over. Full combat and spells should normally transfer over within a week, but I am currently putting it at being a month before you know everything that I do. This spell will also transfer over some personality traits that the master has deemed essential for combat, which could alter your own personality to a point. Do you understand?" Saito explained.

"So, I am not under your control, but my mind is still being slowly altered?" Louise asked.

"Don't worry, the Human Binding was designed to be easily dispelled by the master. However, doing it with this iteration of the spell could cause permanent mental scarring. I am afraid that you are stuck as my familiar until this war is over and a removal spell is developed." Saito replied.

Louise looked to be in thought for a moment, before she replied.

"I suppose it is good enough. Where to now?" She asked.

"Magic training." Saito said, already heading to the magic training hall.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This chapter was already done yesterday, with its release delayed primarily by my wondering about how to treat the rest of the time at the academy. I am currently thinking a summary chapter to sum up the remaining time at the academy, a second chapter detailing a combat mission, before sending the group to Tristain for reasons that shall not be disclosed for fear of spoilers. Once there, there would be fight scenes, curbstomping, ritualistic duels, and more. However, I am concerned about the timeskip involved by condensing almost two years into 6-10k words, which is something that I personally consider rather lazy, but in order for the plot to proceed with any speed (Hey, that rhymes!), I'll have to add in some pretty big timeskips, which I may supplement with flashbacks later in the story should it demand it. The question is: Should I include a big, two year timeskip in a chapter or two, or should I expand on the time at the school at the expense of seeming repetitive, with the only real action being from the occasional sim scene. Please leave your response in the reviews section. **


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